"What the hell is going on?" Brad yelled and Shay felt James's hold on her slightly tighten. He could sense Brad's anger and he felt the need to shield her from it.
Shay got out of his grasp and stood, but to her dismay, as soon as she did Brad went charging straight for James. James quickly sat the guitar on the other side of the couch and stood to his feet.
"What do you think you're doing?" Brad yelled as he got closer. Shay was surprised at how little James intimidated him. Brad was at least a few feet shorter.
"Brad." Shay tried to take a step before James put his hand up and nodded, as if to say that he had it handled.
"Look Brad," he began as Brad stood directly in front of him, awaiting some sort of an explanation. "Shay wanted to learn the guitar, so I offered some lessons."
"Did she now?" He asked and looked at her, who immediately looked at her feet.
"So there is no need to start something you obviously won't be able to finish." He said and Brad took a step closer.
"Don't you see by now?" Brad yelled in his face, but James didn't flinch. "She's not into you mate."
"And she's so much more into you?" He scoffed. That's when Brad went flinging towards James, his hand clenched in the air.
Shay's eyes couldn't keep up with the scene in front of her. One minutes Brad was punching James and the next, James was hitting him right back. It wasn't until the bathroom door had opened did Shay's eyes finally find someone to focus on.
Running from the bathroom with dripping wet hair and a towel tied around her body was Alex. Shay had almost forgotten that she was even still here. She ran towards the two guys and ripped them from one another.
Luckily, her towel was tucked in and tied tight enough that it stayed moulded around her body. She pushed James back first and he had enough balance to stay on his two feet. Brad on the other hand, once pushed, fell slightly to the ground. James was surprised at the amount of force used by Alex, she was tougher than she looked.
"Not in my house!" She screamed once Brad stood up. "You could have knocked something over! I thought you guys would have at least had the decency to take it outside." She yelled and walked over to Shay once she was certain that they'd calmed down.
"You alright?" She asked and stroked Shay's arm. She nodded and Alex looked back to the two guys. Brad's cheek was already swollen and a drip of blood rested on his bottom lip. James on the other hand had no trace of injury, other than the fact that his eyes were a bit watery from the impact of Brad's knuckle on his nose, he looked fine.
"I'm going to go and finish my shower, and if you guys start your shit back up and disturb me one more fucking time, I'll be even more angry and throw you even harder." She warned and walked back to the bathroom. "Fucking children." She mumbled on her way.
Both James and Brad turned to Shay, who was beyond speechless at the moment. She chewed the inside of her cheek, waiting desperately for someone to speak.
"I think I'll go." James was the first to speak. He walked over to where his guitar was and placed it back in his case, packing it up.
"No." Shay said before she could process the words.
"No?" Brad asked with a look is disgust on his face.
"That's not what I meant-"
"It's fine." James looked at her understandingly. They both knew that this wasn't him giving up, it was him giving her a chance to think, and for this, she was great full.
